Echo
by ShadowClan7
Summary: When a certain cat was born, everything went haywire for the Clans. A mysterious prophecy haunts them, threatening to tear them apart, and the only one who could stop it may be the one who's birth caused it all in the first place. Read about how one ThunderClan cat, who thinks they have lost everything, changes the Clans- Forever.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Song clenched her jaw in pain as her mate stood beside her.

"Just one more to go," he whispered into her ear. Song hurt too much to respond. Instead, she looked down at the two kits she had already given birth to. One was a creamy white she-cat, the other a solid gray tom. Both were just beautiful.

Song yowled in pain as another small bundle was added to the nest of kits. Her mate nipped the sack open and gave it to Song to lick. She licked like she had never licked before.

"You're done," he soothed her. "You're all done."

"Please stay with me," pleaded Song. "The kits and I need you." The tom shook his head.

"My Clan needs me more," he said. "You can take care of the kits until they're old enough to come won't you? Then you'll bring them?"

"Of course," meowed Song.

"Let's name the kits before I go," said her mate, softly. Song looked at the creamy she-cat.

"Flower," she decided. "She looks as delicate as a flower."

"This one could be Storm," the tom suggested nodding to the gray kit. Song nodded her head, then turned to the last kit. She was a tortoiseshell. Both grown cats remained silent for a while.

"Echo," Song decided finally.

"Echo," her mate agreed.

` "Have a safe passage back," meowed Song sadly.

"I will."

The tom gave her one last lick and bounded away into the forest.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Echo was woken up by a sharp jab in the ribs.

"Come on, Echo, Mom says that you have to wake up before we get any cream," said a whiny voice. _Flower! _Echo rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, but Flower just kept on jabbing her. She eventually got so fed up, she sat up and snapped, "Stop poking me! It's annoying!"

Flower rolled her eyes and walked over to their mother, Song. Echo followed her.

"Finally, you're up," meowed her brother, Storm. "We've been waiting for moons!" Echo snorted.

"I highly doubt that," she retorted. "We've only been alive for five." Storm let out a small growl and began to lap up cream from the cream bowl.

Echo joined him, followed by Flower. She didn't know why she was restless all the time. She felt like she should be doing something, but she didn't know what. Whenever she asked her mother about it, Echo noticed that she would strangely glance outside at the forest. When she looked at her mother, she was sure that she was thinking about her father. That's how she always looked when she talked about him. She was sad, sullen, and just a tad bit excited.

Echo heard some noises from the Kitchen, and sat up just as her Housefolk walked out. She could never tell what they were saying, but she could usually sense their emotions. Knowing the routine, Flower and Storm sat up too, and Song leapt up onto the sofa. Mother had drilled them about this since they were two moons old, and Echo was ready to get her collar.

The Housefolk leaned down and clipped a collar onto each of them, checking the afterwards to make sure it was on right. It felt itchy, but Echo was fine with it. Mother said that as soon as they got their collars, they would be able to go outside! Her heart did a leap when the Housefolk opened the door to let them outside. _Finally!_

The three kits looked at their mother, but she motioned for them to go first. There was much pushing and shoving, but they eventually all got outside. 'Oh wow!' thought Echo as she caught sight of the green grass and the towering trees. A breeze whistled through her fur and she knew that this is where she wanted to be for her life; outside.

A yarn ball hit the side of her head and she turned around to snap at the thrower when she caught sight of two amber eyes staring out at her. As soon as her eyes locked with those two, they blinked, and disappeared.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Echo was back inside now, but she still couldn't get those amber eyes out of her head. All she could think about was how they looked when they locked onto hers. They felt familiar, but she didn't have any idea where she could have seen them before.

"Echo, is everything okay?" asked Song. She had been watching her kits' every move outside and had not missed Echo's reaction to the eyes she saw. Echo wondered if she had seen the eyes herself.

"Everything's fine," she mumbled. "When are we going to go outside again?" Her mother looked uncomfortable.

"Are you sure you want to go outside again?" she asked nervously. "You've been troubled ever since you went out there you haven't been so g… yourself." Echo didn't miss Song's mistake. She knew that she had been about to say grumpy. Truth be told, sometimes Echo didn't want to be around herself.

"Of course," Echo said in fake surprise. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Never mind," meowed Song, standing up from her comfortable spot on the sofa. She padded over to where Flower and Storm were wrestling. Song pulled the tussling kits apart, purring in amusement.

"Dinner time," she said, a strange gleam of excitement and fear in her eyes. Echo blinked. Had she just imagined it, or had Song suddenly started thinking about their father? The kitchen door opened and the Housefolk came out with four bowls of the food she always fed them. Echo thought that it tasted dry, but Song always said to be happy that we had enough food.

'Who wouldn't?' Echo would think. 'All of us are cooped up in these stupid houses anyway.' Flower and Storm continued their fight on the carpet, but Echo just yawned. Her mother always said that she acted too old for her age.

She curled up, her mother padding up and laying next to her. Echo tucked her nose under her paws and closed her eyes, breathing in the soft scent of her mother. She took one last glance at Song before letting darkness pull her under.

Echo was awoken by a nudge in her flank. Sleepily, she blinked open her eyes. Echo glanced over at the screen door, and it was still dark out. She turned around to see Song prodding Flower and Storm awake too.

What's going on?" asked Flower. "Is there a fire?"

"No little one," meowed her mother, slightly purring. "We're leaving." Echo widened her eyes.

"Why?" Her mother smiled.

"I'm taking us to a different, better place, one that I think you'll like better than a Twoleg nest." _A Twoleg? What's that?_

Song took a deep breath, "I am taking you to ThunderClan."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Echo just stared blankly at her mother. She had no idea what ThunderClan was, but it sounded more exciting than her life right now.

"Sounds fun," meowed Echo excitedly, breaking the silence. Flower wasn't as enthusiastic.

"But what about our housefolk?" she asked in a whiny voice. Echo rolled her eyes. Flower seemed to be always whiny.

"They'll live," Song muttered. She seemed to be talking to herself more than Flower. "Now let's go before they see us!" Mother lifted them all through the cat flap in the door. It was made so that she could get outside easily, but Echo, Flower, and Storm were still too short to reach it. After all three kits were out, Song came out herself.

"Come on," she said, lifting Flower by her scruff. Flower looked like she was about to fall asleep on her paws. Song led them so deep into the forest, that Echo couldn't help but wonder how someone fit all the trees here.

"So many trees," murmured Storm, echoing her thoughts. Flower just snorted. As they continued to walk, Echo started to notice other details too, such as the squirrels' nests in the trees and the chirping cicadas. Echo had never seen a cicada before, but she had heard their racket, and mother had told her the story about how the cicada got its chirp. For some reason, the noise didn't seem to bother her as much as it did before.

Echo's thoughts were interrupted by a low growling sound. Echo glanced around wildly, instinctively going to crouch behind her mother. Four lithe shapes stalked out of the brambles, all with their claws out. Flower's eyes were stretched wide in terror; Storm looked confused. Echo, though she knew she should be scared, was simply curious. She studied the cats more closely.

There was a dark ginger tabby with only one ear, a sleek white she-cat with stunningly black eyes, a dark brown tabby, and surprisingly small gray tom with a white chest and paws.

"Who are…" Echo meowed before being hushed by her mother.

"You're on our territory," growled the ginger. "Leave now."

"I need to speak with your leader," Song said evenly. "The mouse has fled." The cat's eyes widened.

"Follow me."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The other three cats looked completely confused at the actions of the ginger, but they didn't question him.

"Where are we going," Echo heard Flower whisper as they padded through the thick undergrowth.

"We're going to the ThunderClan camp," meowed Song gently. She bent down and carefully removed all four of their collars and buried them in the ground.

"Why?"

"Because we'll like it better there than with our two… our housefolk." Flower just looked at her paws. The forest cats halted suddenly, making Echo almost bump into them.

"We are here," said the ginger. He slipped into a gap into the gorse with the other cats following silently.

"Get Redstar," he murmured to the brown tabby. The cat slipped away, padding toward a large, gaping hole in the center of the biggest rock Echo had ever seen. Other cats Echo had never seen before started to walk out of their own dens, sniffing the air as they detected new comers in the forest. The ginger tabby came out of the cave again with a fluffy brown- red tom who must be Redstar.

"Welcome," he murmured with a glint in his amber eyes. "I take it you are Song?" Echo's mother dipped her head.

"Yes."

"Very well," he meowed evenly, like he was holding something back. "Do you still wish to proceed?" Song nodded her head. Redstar leapt onto the gigantic boulder that he had come out of only moments before.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting," he yowled, bringing even more cats out of dens. 'So many cats,' though Echo, overwhelmed. Once all the cats were filed out and in the clearing, Redstar began to speak.

"A few moons ago, a she-cat named Song asked me if, once her kits were old enough to become apprentices, could they all join the Clan? I have decided to take her up on her offer." There were some murmurs from the crowd, but most cats remained silent.

"She has finally arrived," he continued, flicking his tail at Echo's mother. "How does she know so much about the Clans? The kit's father, whose identity will not be revealed, is one of our own cats, making these kits half ThunderClan. This time, all the cats started talking at once. Echo's heart did a small leap. She was a _forest cat_! She had kin in this Clan!

"We need more warriors," meowed Redstar, loudly to quiet down the crowd, "and why turn down four healthy cats?" A few cats nodded.

"So therefore I will give these four cats warrior and apprentice names," he said, beckoning to Song and the kits. Song quickly whispered instructions into their ears as they walked forward before the Highrock.

"Song, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," meowed Song confidently, as if she had been a Clan cat all her life.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Song, from this moment on you will now be known as Songbreeze. We honor your persistence and loyalty and welcome you as a full member of this Clan." Song licked Redstar's shoulder to end it.

Echo felt a spark of pride in her heart as she saw what an important ceremony this was to cats all around her. She could tell that this was an honor.

"Flower, Storm, and Echo, come forward," meowed Redstar, continuing. Echo bounced forward ready to leave her old life behind.

"Echo, do you promise to train in the ways of a warrior and to the best of your ability, defend your Clan from any threats that may arise?"

"I do," meowed Echo, trying to sound as confident as her mother.

"Then by the power of StarClan I give you your apprentice name. Echo, from now until you earn your warrior name you shall be known as Echopaw. Your mentor will be Winglight." The white she-cat from before walked up to her gracefully, her eyes gleaming with joy. Echopaw could sense her own happiness as she touched noses with her mentor.

The ceremony was repeated for Flower and Storm. Flowerpaw now had Rustlefoot, a gray tabby, as a mentor, and Stormpaw had Twigflight, a light brown tabby tom. Songbreeze beckoned to Echopaw and her siblings and began to tell them about the four Clans, the boundaries, StarClan, and how the Clans came to be. By the time she had learned all she could she was exhausted. Songbreeze sent them toward the Apprentices' Den to get some rest. Echopaw felt like a real Clan cat!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Echopaw twitched her tail excitedly, staring at the small gray body of a mouse in front of her. Wingflight pinned her tail down.

"Don't brush your tail over the leaves," she whispered, "or you'll scare away the prey." Echopaw obediently flattened her tail. She started to creep forward, copying the move Wingflight had taught her. When she was only a few tail lengths away from the fluffy animal, she pounced.

But Echopaw had misjudged her distance. She landed in front of the mouse, and flashed around to catch it, but it was too late. The creature had already retreated to its den.

"Mouse dung," Echopaw spat, digging her claws into the soft earth.

"Don't worry, we'll try again," meowed Wingflight, stepping out of the ferns. Echopaw shuffled her feet, still embarrassed that she had missed her prey. This was her first day of apprentice training, and Echopaw was determined to be the best warrior the Clans had ever seen.

Suddenly, a white, fluffy shape darted out of a bush nearby. _Rabbit! _Echopaw instinctively raced after it as fast as she could. 'Almost got it," she thought.

The next thing she knew, Echopaw found her paws flying through only air. What was it the Clan cats said?

"StarClan help me," Echopaw prayed as she plummeted downward. She wildly flailed her paws and found her front ones connecting to crevices in rough rock. Echopaw stayed there, gripping the stone, and looked down.

Below, she saw nothing but water. Deadly, frothing, churning water that went on forever in two directions. Stone walls blocked off the other two.

Echopaw felt gentle teeth grip her scruff.

"Let go of the edge, slowly," said a gruff voice. Echopaw obeyed and next thing she knew, she was panting on the soft grass with two cats standing over her; her mentor, and a jet black cat.

"What were you thinking?" growled the black cat. "Do you want to get yourself killed?" Echopaw's fur bristled.

"I was chasing…"

"You went over the edge of the gorge for a rabbit!"

"Alright," said Wingflight, shoving her way in between them. "Nightstorm, that's enough. Echopaw's a new apprentice! You can't expect her to know everything on her first day!"

"If she was Clanborn she wouldn't have to learn everything on her first day," Nightstorm spat. And with that, he stalked into the trees, leaving one growling apprentice and one tense mentor behind him. After a ling silence, Wingflight turned to Echopaw.

"We might as well keep hunting. We can't go back to the Clan empty pawed." Echopaw nodded in agreement and they both crept into the forest in search of prey.

By the time they had gotten back to camp, Echopaw and Wingflight had caught three mice, two sparrows, and (by lucky chance) the rabbit from before.

"Well done," Wingflight purred. "You've done so well that Redstar might pick you for the Gathering tonight!" _The Gathering! _The other apprentice, Thornpaw, had told them all about the Gathering. And everything else, for that matter. Echopaw, happy as a bumblebee, bounced over to where Flowerpaw and Stormpaw were waiting by the tree stump. That was all of the apprentices' favorite place.

"How did you do today?"

"Well, Rustlefoot showed me around the territory," Flowerpaw meowed. "It's all so big!" Stormpaw just purred, "Echopaw, you seem much happier out here. You were definitely born a Clan cat." Echopaw beamed. She felt much happier out in the wild.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" Redstar was perched atop the biggest rock in the camp, his amber eyes shining. Mist cats were already in the Clearing, anticipating the members for the Gathering.

"The cats who will be going to the Gathering are," he hesitated, "Fireear, Fallingwish, Embersong, Skysong, Nightstorm, Whitefur, Dawnsky, Songbreeze, Twigflight, Rustlefoot, Thornpaw, Wingflight, Flowerpaw, Stormpaw, and Echopaw."

Echopaw's heart leapt as Redstar called her name. She looked at Thornpaw, who smiled at her.

"Good first impression on Redstar," he meowed.

"Thanks," purred Echopaw, beginning to follow, Redstar, Fireear, and the rest of ThunderClan out of the gorse tunnel.

The clan walked through the territory, jumping over fallen trees and climbing over rocks. When the Clan had nearly reached the Fourtrees, a low, growling sounded from nearby bushes.

"What's that," Echopaw wondered aloud, pricking her ears.

"What's what?" asked Thorn paw, looking confused. "I didn't hear anything."

Echopaw kept walking, and soon the sound ceased. In front of them, now, was a huge clearing with four towering oaks and one, giant rock in the center. The Big Rock, or something. With a signal from Redstar, ThunderClan bounded down into the clearing, where the scents of WindClan and RiverClan awaited them. Cats filled the clearing.

"Come on," meowed Thornpaw beside her. "I'll introduce you to the other apprentices." Thornpaw expertly weaved through the crowd of cats until he reached a small group huddled under one of the great oaks.

"Hey guys," he said as he and Echopaw slipped into the circle. "This is Echopaw. She's new." The cats all meowed a greeting.

"I'm Milkpaw," said a pretty white she-cat, stepping out of the circle. She smelled of WindClan. "This is Minnowpaw, Starpaw, and Hailpaw." She said nodding to a light gray she-cat with white flecks, a jet black tom, and a gray tabby tom. Starpaw was from WindClan too; Hailpaw and Minnowpaw were from RiverClan. Two more apprentices came up, smelling of ShadowClan.

"This is Darkpaw and Lightpaw," meowed Milkpaw, nodding to the two apprentices. One was solid black, and the other solid white. "Darkpaw and Lightpaw, this is Echopaw from ThunderClan. She's a new apprentice." Darkpaw and Lightpaw nodded to her and joined the conversation. Hailpaw puffed out his chest; the Gathering started, unacknowledged by the apprentices.

"I'm going to be leader of RiverClan someday," Hailpaw meowed.

"Yea right, Hailstar," meowed Minnowpaw, poking her Clanmate. Darkpaw rolled his eyes.

"There's already been a Hailstar, mouse brain!"

"Yea, well, he died moons ago even before the first great journey!" Echopaw listened curiously.

"How many journeys were there?"

"Only two," responded Lightpaw, "but this forest somehow looks exactly like the first one. We're just closer to the mountains, now."

"Yea," purred Minnowpaw. "Thornpaw's the descendant of Flamestar of something."

"Firestar," Thornpaw corrected. "He was the best Clan leader ever! He…" Thornpaw went on, going into all the good deeds that Firestar had done, with Minnowpaw mouthing him word for word. Echopaw stifled a purr.

Everything next happened in a blur. A huge growl erupted from what seemed like everywhere and the whole Fourtrees exploded into chaos.


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm so sorry I haven't been updating! And it was a cliffhanger too! I'm so sorry! Thank you to all my followers and reviewers! I will try to update this story as fast as possible from now on.**

**SwiftStar1: ****O.O Indeed! XD**

**Nayeli Kigaliss: ****Thank you so much! I'm sorry for the cliff, but I personally needed some excitement. The last Chapter was pretty dull to write.**

**Falling Silver29: ****Oh no! Don't kill me! XD You won't find out what happens next! :P Thanks for your support!**

Chapter Seven

"Dogs!" came a long, loud, high-pitched wail as dozens of huge, brown shapes raced down into the Fourtrees clearing. Echopaw's fur bristled with fear. One dog came straight for the group of apprentices, charging at Milkpaw, who was the closest. With a yowl, Starpaw leapt onto the dog, followed by Minnowpaw and Darkpaw. The other apprentices circled it, clawing at its legs. The dog, realizing it was outnumbered, roughly shook off the apprentices on its back and fled for the forest.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Thornpaw, looking around wildly in case any other dogs came for them.

"I think so," called Lightpaw. "No, wait, Starpaw are you okay?" Echopaw turned herself to see Starpaw. She didn't look too bad, despite the fact she was limping.

"Just a torn claw," Starpaw reassured them. A small thought slowly crept into Echopaw's mind, causing her to bristle. _Where were Flowerpaw and Stormpaw? _Thornpaw seemed to think the same thing. One look at each other, and they were running side by side, weaving through cats and dogs, looking for two of the three newest ThunderClan apprentices. There were dogs and cats everywhere. Even though the Clans had chased out many of them, they just kept coming.

There was a sizzling sound, quite soft but loud enough to be heard. A huge bold of lightning shot down from the sky and struck the Great Rock with a force ten times the ferocity of TigerClan. The dogs howled and scrambled for the forest, leaving the cats staring up at the rock, frozen in fear. A ginger cat appeared on the rock, stars shining in his fur.

"Firestar," Thornpaw whispered.

"Two of eight shall journey high; through the mountains, through the sky. Darkness shall come to rise the light. The arrival that brought it shall stop the fight." And with that, Firestar disappeared into wisps of smoke. It was chaos, so many cats in confusion, until the ShadowClan leader, Snakestar, jumped onto the Great Rock and called for quiet. The other leaders followed.

"Everyone should group into their own Clans," he yelled. "Then, deputies, check that every cat is there." While everyone shuffled around to obey orders, Echopaw kept her eye out for her two other siblings.

"Now," continued Fallingstar, the RiverClan leader, "Is everyone okay?"

"We're okay, Fallingstar," came a yowl from the RiverClan side. Something caught Echopaw's eye; a bloodied warrior dragging a dead body over to the ShadowClan side of the Fourtrees. When the deputy caught sight of the pretty white she-cat, he raced over to her immediately.

"No Snowwing, no!"he yowled to StarClan, his voice cracking. Snakestar flinched, along with many other warriors, not just from ShadowClan. A blue-gray she-cat, Moonriver, leaned over to her and whispered, "Snowwing was his mate. She was expecting kits any day now."

Echopaw dipped her head in grief. Now the kits that were in her belly would never get to experience the glory of being in one of the four Clans, even if it was ShadowClan.

"Springpaw is injured," called a gray tabby from the WindClan side, "But he'll be okay." Songbreeze could be seen weaving through the throng of ThunderClan cats.

"I can't find Flowerpaw or Stormpaw," she said in a panicked voice. You could tell she was trying to stay calm, but her voice rose to a wail.

"The Gathering has come to an end,"meowed Snakestar softly, leaping down from the Great Rock. He bounded up the the edge of the forest, his Clan right behind him. Before running into the thick woods, he turned around and announced, "All Clans be careful. We don't know it they're still out there." And with that, ShadowClan fled into the trees. ThunderClan left next, anxious to search for their missing apprentices. Some ways into the forest, Redstar halted, causing everyone to bump into the cat in front of them. When Redstar didn't move, everyone started pushing forward to see what the disturbance was. When Echopaw made her way to the front, her eyes widened at the sickening sight laying there in front of her.

Because laying there, on the forest floor, were the broken, bloody bodies of Stormpaw and Flowerpaw.

**Lol, I'm sorry. I just needed one more cliffhanger. I already have most of the eighth chapter written out, so it shouldn't be too long before that one's up. Thanks for reading!**

**-Shadow**


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